Soon the huge amount of construction equipment would require for the construction of Rs 17,750 crore Mumbai Trans Harbour Link (MTHL) project, as the work on India’s longest sea bridge project would soon hit the ground as Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has recently cleared the first tranche of Rs. 7,910 crore, which is about 45% of the total cost of the project.

On 31st March, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) signed an agreement, in New Delhi, for the disbursement of the first tranche of Rs. 7,910 crore for MTHL project. The JICA has agreed to fund 85% of the total project cost of Rs. 17,843 crore.

The agreement was signed by Mr. Sakamoto, Chief Representative of JICA and Mr. U.P.S. Madan, Metropolitan Commissioner, MMRDA. The MMRDA is the nodal agency for implementing this project.

The consortium of AECOM-DAR-PADECO-T.Y. Lin have been appointed as general consultants for the project in which JICA has committed to fund 85% of the cost. While commenting the loan agreement, Mr. Madan said, “This is a big boost to the Mumbai Trans Harbour Link as we have already shortlisted contractors, who have been issued Request for Proposal for the execution of the project.”

The MMRDA had invited tenders for the MTHL project and already shortlisted consortium of contractors for its three different packages. This 22km MTHL project is divided into 3 packages, the first two packages comprise the construction of 16.5km sea bridge component and a package for 5.5km long portions on land.

The authority shortlisted 7 consortium companies each for first two packages and 15 for the third package.

The last date for submitting the RFP (Request for Proposal) documents was April 5, 2017, the names of the final bidders are expected by the end of April or in May. The work on this project will kick-off soon after the final bidders will be selected, as the required fund is already cleared by the international investment banker JICA.

As JICA agreed to fund 85% of the MTHL project, the rest 15% fund for the project is to be managed by the state government, In MMRDA Budget-2017-18, the provision of Rs. 1,200-crore has paved way for the speedy implementation of this project.

The 22km-long Sea Bridge will be a six-lane (three lanes each way) with a width of 27 metres, will connect Sewri in Mumbai with Nhava in Navi Mumbai. The MTHL Project will give easy and fast connectivity between Navi Mumbai and Mumbai, International airport in Navi Mumbai, and provide the convenient gateway to Pune Expressway and further to Southern India.

This large infrastructure project would further generate the demand for various types of construction equipment in the Mumbai region. Heavy equipment like Excavators, bulldozers, asphalt mixers, different types of cranes, material handling equipment, fabrication equipment, Backhoe loaders, Motor graders, and others will see the demand during the construction period.

The project will give a boost to both CE and rental market in the region. The project is expected to be completed by 2021. Source: Information has been obtained from MMRDA, JICA